This quick quinoa chicken salad with avocado is satisfying, fresh and delicious. It comes with an easy meal prep option, so you can eat salad for lunch more often!
That’s right: a salad. Gone are the days, when I’m drowning in creamy cheesy, oh-so-delcious tortellini. Right now I’m all about salads – they make me feel light and not bloated like Shrek.
Salads give me energy, they give me life and apparently make me super annoying and awake.
And this salad? Well it’s one of my favorite meals I make right now. Everyday for lunch, I’d have this. I’ve prepared the chicken and the quinoa, so it comes together faster than you can blink. Did you blink? I just made a salad.
That would be a fun video game. One guy I knew actually played a video game where the goal was to eat as many cookies as he can, so he’d click on that button till his fingers were bleeding.
I’ve also played that game in real life for a while after my pregnancy. Fun times. And now I’ve got 20 more pounds to go.
And here comes this salad to save the day and destroy my cookie cravings. It’s got all the things to feed a hungry soul and to calm my mind.
We’ve got chicken, quinoa, roasted peppers, vegetables.
And let’s not forget that fat avocado that makes living in the 21st century totally worth it. I can imagine what life would be like 100 years ago, no avocado, no quinoa, no chicken, no nada. Some old potatoes and that’s it. Man, those history lessons at school are totally paying off, aren’t they?
Quinoa Chicken Salad Recipe | Healthy Meal Prep Lunch
This easy quinoa chicken salad with avocado is super fresh, filling and satisfying and might become a go-to healthy lunch recipe if you give it a try! You can also meal prep most this salad by preparing the chicken, cooking the quinoa, using whole cherry tomatoes and adding the dressing in the end.
Ingredients
- 4oz/100g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp basil, dry
- 1 tsp coriander, ground
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- black pepper
- salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the salad
- 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 tomato / 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup arugula, chopped
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- 2 roasted red peppers, sliced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 avocado, ripe
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 5 olives, chopped, pitted
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken: Marinate the chicken with coriander, basil, crushed red pepper, garlic glove, black pepper and some salt for at least 30min.
- In a non-stick pan, add the chicken with 1 tbsp olive oil and cook at medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is done. Add the parsley, stir in for about a minute and turn the heat off. Let it cool off a little, before you add it to the salad.
- Salad In a salad bowl add spinach, arugula, quinoa, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, 2 scallions, olives and chicken. Add in olive oil, minced garlic and lemon juice, some salt and mix everything well together. Add salt and pepper to taste! Note, that for these pictures I tried to arrange things more beautifully, starting with a bed of spinach and then arranging everything on top of it carefully (FIY, in case presentation is really important to you, if not: tastes the same and you save yourself a few minutes and some curse words).
Notes
If you don't have red peppers, you can use any type of roasted vegetables here: broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant or even carrots.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 539Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 831mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 13gSugar: 11gProtein: 24g
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